Method for sheet seaming



Jan. 12, 1965 B. D. BEAMISH 3,165,081

METHOD FOR SHEET SEAMING Filed March 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR.

Jan. 12, 1965 B. D. BEAMISH 3,165,081 METHOD FOR SHEET SEAMING Filed March 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,165,081 METHOD FOR SHEET SEAMING Bernard Delacour Beamish, New Rochelle, N.Y. (22 W. 1st St., Mount Vernon, N.Y.) Filed Mar. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 93,115 2 Claims. (Cl. 112262) This invention relates to the manufacture of sheets and particularly to the formation of the hems at the ends of sheets and the like.

Heretofore each end of the sheet, in turn, has been manually guided through a sewing machine with the aid of a folding device to fold the marginal portion inwardly to make a hem crosswise of the end, followed by guiding the open ends of the hem, at each side of the sheet, through the same or different sewing machines to make seams at the open ends of each hem in sequence. This operation requires highly skilled labor, not only in continuously guiding each end throughout its length into the folder and thus into the sewing machine for making the hem at the end, but also in manipulating the sheet in such fashion as to make the two end hems successively and to make seams at the four open ends of the hems successively.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a method of forming the hems at the opposite ends of a sheet simultaneously and of closing the open ends of the hems during and immediately following the forma tion of the hems at the ends, so as to produce a finished sheet in substantially one continuous operation without repeated handling and hence with less duplication of work, greater production per man hour, and less soiling and/ or damage to the sheet.

As herein illustrated, the method comprises, in its broadest aspect, simultaneously folding the marginal portions of a sheet at the leading side to establish the beginning of a hem of predetermined width at each end, concomitantly advancing the initially folded margins of the sheet by applying feeding forces thereto in a predetermined direction, and inserting stitches along the inner edges of the folded portions, and as successive unfolded increments of the sheet are pulled forwardly in said direction, guiding the unfolded end edges into folded positions into alignment with the preceding portions, and inserting stitches along said edges. During the course of forming the hems at the ends, stitches are inserted crosswise of the. open ends of the hems at the leading side of the sheet and, when the trailing edge of the sheet is reached, stitches are inserted crosswise of the open ends of the hems at the trailing edge. The method also includes initially disposing the sheet with its end edges at a lesser distance apart than the normal length of the sheet so that the portion of the sheet therebetween is slack and with the portions at the leading side, adjacent the corners, extending inwardly and rearwardly at slight angles, of advancing the angularly disposed corner p0rtions forwardly to a predetermined position preparatory to folding of the end portions, of moving the corner portions laterally outward and simultaneously applying reactive forcesto the end portions to fold them on themselves, of aligning the edges of the folded over portions with the subjacent side of the sheet, and of squaring the aligned edges with respect to the direction of movement preparatory to inserting the stitches along the inner edges of the folded portions. The method further includes turning the open ends of the hems at the trailing side of the sheet into alignment with the inner edges of the hems at the ends, advancing the same in the direction of movement of the sheet, and inserting stitches to close the open ends as a continuation of the operation of forming the hems at the ends. Preferably the hem at one end is much larger than at the other 3,155,081 Patented Jan. 12, 1965 ICC The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which diagrammatically represent the successive operations performed and wherein:

FIG. 1 represents the first step in the operation, showing a sheet disposed on a table with its ends situated at a lesser distance apart than the length of the sheet, so that the portion intermediate the ends is slack and with the corners at the leading side averted at small angles;

FIG. 2 shows a second step in the operation, wherein the corners of the sheet have been advanced to positions in engagement with folding assemblies, the latter being inclined rearwardly with reference to the direction of movement, the ends folded and the edges of the folded portions aligned with the subjacent side of the sheet;

FIG. 3 shows a third step in the operation, wherein the folding assemblies have been moved angularly forward to bring the aligned hems into alignment with sewing machines, preparatory to inserting the stitching at the inner edges of the hems;

FIG. 4 shows a fourth step in the operation, wherein the hemmed portions have been sewn and advanced by feed pads to sewing machines for closing the ends of the hems;

FIG. 5 shows a fifth step in the operation, wherein the open ends of the hems have been sewn; v

FIG. 6 shows a sixth step in the operation, wherein the open ends of the hems at the trailing side of the sheet have been turned to bring them into alignment with the inner edges of the hems at the ends, preparatory to inserting stitches to close them; I

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 2, showing means for moving the ends of the sheet laterally into the folding tools and showing the folding tools; and

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 2, showing means for aligning the edges of the folded over portion with the side of the subjacent sheet.

Referring to the drawings, for illustration of the meth- I r of the sheet, intermediate the corners, is slack and may be bunched or folded, and with the leading side at the corners, extending inwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction of movement at small angles. The sheet as thus disposed is advanced forwardly in the direction of the arrows a, for example, by two pairs of feeding means arranged transversely of the table, one pair being comprised of feet 18-48 which engage the angularly disposed corners at the leading side of the sheet and the other pair being comprised of feed feet 19-19 which engage the intermediate bunched or folded portion of the sheet. The pairs of feeding feet slide the sheet forwardly on the table to a position in which the averted corner portions are abreast of a pair of laterally spaced folding assemblies 2020 (FIG. 12), mounted on the table. The folding assemblies 20-20 are pivotally supported for swinging movement about a center situated on a line extending transversely of the table and initially extend inwardly from their pivots and rearwardly with respect to the direction of movement at small angles which correspond to the angular disposition of the corners of the sheet being moved toward them so that, as the corners enter the assemblies, the side at the corners are parallel to the center lines of the assemblies. The assemblies include folding tools23-23 sit-u below the sheet, which are movable laterally outward 9 toward the folding tools and, by such outward movement, operate through frictional contact with the sheet to move its ends laterally into the folding tools. The traction means may be in the form of brushes -25 located in slots in the table below the surface and above which the corners of the sheet are moved by the feed feet, the brushes being adapted to be raised against the undersides of the corners to hold them against the undersides of overlying portions 27-27 of the assemblies and then, by outward movement, relative to the overlying portions, to push the ends into the folding tools 23-23, as shown in FIG. 7. The folding tools are of the conventional kind, having involute surfaces which, by opposing t-he lateral outward movement of the ends, fold them upwardly and inwardly upon themselves. The leading ends of the folded over portions of the sheet and the leading side of the sheet subjacent thereto, at the corners, may not be perfectly aligned by the folding operations, hence there are photo-electric detectors 24-- 24 associated with the folding assemblies (FIG. 8) for determining Whether the leading ends of the folded portions are aligned with the underlying leading side at the corners, and there are feed fingers 26-26 (FIG. 8), operable thereby for shifting the ends of the folded over portions into alignment with the subjacent side of the sheet in the event that they are not already aligned.

After the end edges have been folded over and the ends aligned with the leading side of the sheet, the folding members 29-26 are moved angularly forward about their centers, to the full line positions, as shown in FIG. 3, to square the folded ends with respect to the direction of movement of the sheet, to align the inner edges of the folded over portions with the needles of a pair of sewing machines 28-28, situated forwardly of the folding assemblies, and to move them into the sewing machines for inserting stitches at the inner edges. The sewing machines 28-28 include the usual feed feet which supply feeding forces to draw the unfolded margins into the folding assemblies which now occupy the full line position to fold successive unfolded portions of the sheet.

- Feeding rollers Bid-3i? are mounted inwardly of the sewing machines: 23-28 for engagement with the slack 4; so as to produce a chaining off action, that is, instead of breaking the threads as the material leaves the sewing machine, the threads continue to feed so as to form a chain of loops. When short lengths of the chains have been drawn away from the needles both the sewing machines and the pads are stopped and mechanical thread cutters 38-38 are advanced into positions to cut the chains and then retracted to lea e the tag ends which extend from the sewing machines still secure under the sewing machine feet (FIG. 5). In this matter a number of successive stitching operations can be made at intervals without breaking the threads.

After the end seaming operations have been completed at the leading side the pads 32-32 are disengaged from the sheet and returned to their starting or normal position (FEG. 3), adjacent the sewing machines 23-26 and substantially, at the same time, the sheet is engaged by feed rollers 36-36 which steadily move the sheet forwardly and off the table, at a speed such as to take up slack created during the stitching of the open ends of the herns at the leading side.

When the end herns have been sewn on the sewing machines 23-28 within a fraction of an inch at the trailing side of the sheet, the sewing machines 28-28 are stopped by electromechanical means, operation of which is effected by detectors which detect the side of the sheet. The pads 32-32 are now brought into engagement with the corners of the sheet at the trailing side and are turned in the plane of the top of the table about the axes of the needles as centers through approximately 90, as shown in FIG. 6. This brings the open ends of the herns at the corner portions at the trailing side into alignment With the inner edges of the seams of the herns already formed under the needles of the sewing machines 28-28 for inserting stitches at the trailing ends of the open hems. The sheet is advanced by the pads 32-32 in a forward direction so that the stitches are inserted from the inner edges of the herns toward the outer edges and the forportion of the sheet and for applying feeding movement portion of the sheet and so that the latter are required only to pull the margins straight through the folding assemblies.

Two pads 32-32 (FIG. 3) are arranged forwardly of the sewing machines 28-28 in the direction of feed for engagement with the herns at the corners of the sheet as the sheet as they emerge from the sewing machine and are movable forwardly in the direction of feed at a speed slightly less than the speed of the sewing machines andalso laterally outward so as to present the inner edges of the hems at the leading side to a pair of sewing machines 34-3 4, situated at right angels to the sewing machines 28-28 for sewing crosswise of the open ends of the hems. Detectors control the movement of the pads to bring the inner edges of the herns into positions directly subjacent the raised needles of the sewing machines (the latter being mechanically raised at the end of 'each cycle of stitching), whereupon the pads are moved laterally inward and, by such movement, draw the corners inwardly relative to the sewing machines so that stitches are inserted from the inner edges of the herns to the outer sides thereof (FIG. 5). Closing of the open ends of the herns at the forward side of the sheet is accordingly performed while the end seaming operations are in progress.

At the conclusion of the end seaming operations the pads 32-32 draw the corner portions of the sheet out of the sewing machines while the latter continue to run ward movement is continued to efiect the chaining off as previously explained. A pair of retractible cutters ta-re are provided for cutting the tag ends of the threads so as to leave portions thereof secured under the feet of the sewing machine preparatory to the next stitching operation. The pads 32-32 are then returned to their normal position preparatory to the next cycle of operation.

Thus both ends of the sheet are hemmed and the ends of both herns closed simultaneously and substantially continuously. The sheet material is placed on the support with its cut edges at the sides and its se-lvages at the ends so that, when the herns are completed, a finished sheet results.

While the method is herein described with reference to operation on a single sheet placed on the table, it is within the scope of the invention to advance sheetforming material from a roll of material to the table intermittently and to cut-off sheet lengths thereof as they are delivered onto the table.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of finishing a cut sheet having parallel selvage edges transverse to its out edges, comprising progressively and uninterruptedly advancing the cut edges in spaced parallel relation at a spacing less than the transverse length of the sheet between said edges to places of folding and sewing, folding and sewing incremental portions lengthwise of said edges to form hems while the edges continue to be advanced so that increasing hemmed portions are formed at the far side of the place of folding and sewing and decreasing portions of cut edges are left at the near side, said portions at both sides being unconstrained, advancing the leading ends of the hems independently of the movement of the cut edges and at a slower rate to places for sewing the open ends of the hems so as to leave a slack between the places of folding and sewing the hems and the places of sewing the open ends of the hems, sewing the open ends of the hems from their inner edges outwardly and without interruption rotating the open ends of the hems at the trailing ends into alignment with the places of folding and sewing for sewing, and sewing said open ends of the hems from their inner edges outwardly.

2. The method of finishing a cut sheet having parallel edges comprising, advancing the sheets with the corner portions at one edge at a lesser spacing than the taut length of the edge between said corners, moving each corner independently, laterally outward relative to the direction of movement, and at a predetermined point in said outward movement reversing the direction of movement of the edges to fold a portion at each edge onto itself, moving the initially folded portions into positions such that the direction of the folds are substantially at right angles to the direct-ion of movement of the sheet, gripping the folded edges, inserting stitches adjacent the free edges of the folds to start hems, advancing the hems in the direction of .feed to move successive increments into position for sewing, progressively folding the edges of the sheet as successive completed portions of the hems are formed, during the interval of hem-forming simultaneously sewing the edges of the horns at the leading end and at the conclusion of the hem-forming operation sewing the edges of the hems at the terminal ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 744,045 Cameron Nov. 17, 1903 1,026,547 Adair et al May 14, 1912 1,805,112 Sparks May 12, 1931 1,924,492 Goldwyn Aug. 2 9, 1933 2,053,257 Anderson Sept. 8, 1936 2,546,831 Newell Mar. 27, 1951 2,738,746 MacIsaac et a1 Mar. 20, 1956 

1. THE METHOD OF FINISHING A CUT SHEET HAVING PARALLEL SELVAGE EDGES TRANSVERSE TO ITS CUT EDGES, COMPRISING PROGRESSIVELY AND UNINTERRUPTEDLY ADVANCING THE CUT EDGES IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION AT A SPACING LESS THAN THE TRANSVERSE LENGTH OF THE SHEET BETWEEN SAID EDGES TO PLACES OF FOLDING AND SEWING, FOLDING AND SEWING INCREMENTAL PORTIONS LENGTHWISE OF SAID EDGES TO FORM HEMS WHILE THE EDGES CONTINUE TO BE ADVANCED SO THAT INCREASING HEMMED PORTIONS ARE FORMED AT THE FAR SIDE OF THE PLACE OF FOLDING AND SEWING AND DECREASING PORTIONS OF CUT EDGES ARE LEFT AT THE NEAR SIDE, SAID PORTIONS AT BOTH SIDES BEING UNCONSTRAINED, ADVANCING THE LEADING ENDS OF THE HEMS INDEPENDENTLY OF THE MOVEMENT OF THE CUT EDGES AN AT A SLOWER RATE TO PLACES FOR SEWING THE OPEN ENDS OF THE HEMS SO AS TO LEAVE A SLACK BETWEEN THE PLACES OF FOLDING AND SEWING THE HEMS AND THE PLACES OF SEWING THE OPEN ENDS OF THE HEMS, SEWING THE OPEN ENDS OF THE HEMS FROM THEIR INNER EDGES OUTWARDLY AND WITHOUT INTERRUPTION ROTATING THE OPEN ENDS OF THE HEMS AT THE TRAILING ENDS INTO ALIGNMENT WITH THE PLACES OF FOLDING AND SEWING FOR SEWING, AND SEWING SAID OPEN ENDS OF THE HEMS FROM THEIR INNER EDGES OUTWARDLY. 